It's finally and officially closed. The biggest joke of Twin Cities regional shopping malls has shut its doors but now the question has turned to "What do we do with Brookdale?" I may not be the best guy to ponder the multitude of answers because I'm from the opposite end of the Twin Cities but Brooklyn Center isn't exactly an impressive place when Brookdale was the retail center of the community. Beginning right at its logo, the mall seemed to be a bit of a joke - especially in the seven years I've lived here. Every televised promotion I saw for Brookdale seemed rather low rent or even ghetto in nature (the crappy boy band concert-turned-riot didn't help matters). While that may have been an accurate portrayal of what the mall represented it isn't exactly the image you want to portray to attract a wide swath of the population.
And that failure to attract a wide swath of the population at least in part contributed to the mall's downfall. That and the fact that the mall was essentially a hangout for gangs, thugs and lowlifes - that doesn't exactly help to draw families looking to shop.
But the big question now is "What do we do with a huge, vacant building in the middle of a first-ring suburb?" Ideally, this huge space would be developed in to something actually useable for the community as a whole. Realistically, because it's basically a building that will have to be demolished sitting on a huge, paved piece of real estate, the former Brookdale will sit and crumble as it goes through a vicious and endless cycle of defaults and foreclosures. Maybe, after about twenty years of this cycle, it will end up in the hands of the city of Brooklyn Center itself and then it can become a community gathering place (not a mall) where families can congregate. Maybe it could truly be a center for the community but that's a lot of utopian wishful thinking on my part. Hell, do people actually associate with others in public anymore?
There's also a lot of talk about the Brookdale site being perfect for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. The only problem is that the current owner/developer would demand a price for this shit hole that would make potential buyers wonder if millions of tons of gold sat just beneath the cracked and crumbling asphalt of the parking lot. Sure, it has decent freeway access and is truly a huge piece of property but there's another huge piece of property perfect for a new Vikings stadium - it's called the Metrodome.
If given free reign, though, what would your dream consist of for redeveloping the now shuttered Brookdale site? A park, a transit station, a new urban center/downtown development? Have at it.
When you're done, click on over to MinnPics and see what the latest photographic treasure of Minnesota has been found for your enjoyment!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
TV actually educated my household last night
About two thirds of the way through the broadcast of "Food, Inc." on PBS' POV last night I became angry. That's because the documentary came to a pivotal area which I understand deeply. It centered around Monsanto and how they not only control the chemicals farmers use but also now control approximately 90% of the seeds farmers use to grow the very crops we eat.
The story, as it goes, tells viewers that it all began just over a decade ago when Monsanto introduced RoundUp-ready Soybean seed. In short, the very chemical that homeowners use to kill grass and weeds growing through the cracks in their sidewalks could now be used by soybean growers to kill every weed in their fields while leaving the soybeans untouched. I remember when these first came in to being. My dad, miser that he is, refused to buy the RoundUp-ready soybeans because they were approximately three times the cost of traditional seed. And he had it even better as he planted public varieties which, based on which variety yielded best, he would save enough seed for the next year's crop to have cleaned and bagged. It's entirely legal and the vendor where he purchased the seed actually did cleaning and bagging for farmers as well.
But then it began changing. The public varieties began to dwindle in availability and the cost of RoundUp came down as did the RoundUp-ready soybean seed prices. Then Monsanto bred the RoundUp-ready gene in to corn and soon the majority of corn varieties from virtually all seed companies were ready for farmers to soak their farm fields with RoundUp. This near-monopoly made Monsanto even richer - and greedier.
Now, with that dominance of the RoundUp-ready gene in most of the country's soybean crop, farmers are virtually unable to save seed for the next year's needs. Monsanto has reached almost a Gestapo-level of control in their ability to demand farmer's records and test the seeds they are saving. Even a trace of that gene in the seeds you are saving will likely land that farmer on the receiving end of a hefty lawsuit. And it hurts only true farmers. The type of farmers who don't farm thousands of acres. The type of farmers who don't have the shiniest or newest machinery. The type of farmers who aren't pawns owned by huge banks or other lenders. These are the farmers who truly care about the land they farm but with the almost overnight dominance of one company - Monsanto - they are even more of an endangered species.
Seeing "Food, Inc." made me sad that for lack of choices and in his search for a profit on increasingly slim margins that my dad has had to turn to a dependence on everything Monsanto. What happens when Monsanto makes a mistake in their gene splicing? What happens when some disturbing side effect of consuming food made from RoundUp-ready corn or soybeans is disvcovered? What happens when the weeds become resistant (as they tend to do after 5-10 years of exposure) to repeated RoundUp applications? The eventual lesson is to not fuck with Mother Nature. She doesn't even bother counting to three, she just puts the smack down and we're at her mercy.
But before the possible foodpocalypse, check out the photos fo Minnesota at MinnPics! It's the one decision today that you won't regret.
The story, as it goes, tells viewers that it all began just over a decade ago when Monsanto introduced RoundUp-ready Soybean seed. In short, the very chemical that homeowners use to kill grass and weeds growing through the cracks in their sidewalks could now be used by soybean growers to kill every weed in their fields while leaving the soybeans untouched. I remember when these first came in to being. My dad, miser that he is, refused to buy the RoundUp-ready soybeans because they were approximately three times the cost of traditional seed. And he had it even better as he planted public varieties which, based on which variety yielded best, he would save enough seed for the next year's crop to have cleaned and bagged. It's entirely legal and the vendor where he purchased the seed actually did cleaning and bagging for farmers as well.
But then it began changing. The public varieties began to dwindle in availability and the cost of RoundUp came down as did the RoundUp-ready soybean seed prices. Then Monsanto bred the RoundUp-ready gene in to corn and soon the majority of corn varieties from virtually all seed companies were ready for farmers to soak their farm fields with RoundUp. This near-monopoly made Monsanto even richer - and greedier.
Now, with that dominance of the RoundUp-ready gene in most of the country's soybean crop, farmers are virtually unable to save seed for the next year's needs. Monsanto has reached almost a Gestapo-level of control in their ability to demand farmer's records and test the seeds they are saving. Even a trace of that gene in the seeds you are saving will likely land that farmer on the receiving end of a hefty lawsuit. And it hurts only true farmers. The type of farmers who don't farm thousands of acres. The type of farmers who don't have the shiniest or newest machinery. The type of farmers who aren't pawns owned by huge banks or other lenders. These are the farmers who truly care about the land they farm but with the almost overnight dominance of one company - Monsanto - they are even more of an endangered species.
Seeing "Food, Inc." made me sad that for lack of choices and in his search for a profit on increasingly slim margins that my dad has had to turn to a dependence on everything Monsanto. What happens when Monsanto makes a mistake in their gene splicing? What happens when some disturbing side effect of consuming food made from RoundUp-ready corn or soybeans is disvcovered? What happens when the weeds become resistant (as they tend to do after 5-10 years of exposure) to repeated RoundUp applications? The eventual lesson is to not fuck with Mother Nature. She doesn't even bother counting to three, she just puts the smack down and we're at her mercy.
But before the possible foodpocalypse, check out the photos fo Minnesota at MinnPics! It's the one decision today that you won't regret.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
It just flew in to the toilet
When I heard tools banging around in the bathroom this morning, I just had to find out what was going on behind that closed door.
When I opened the door, I found my old lady hunched over the tub holding the handle of my Channel Lock pliers in one hand and a bottle of bleach-filled shower cleaner in the other. She had just foamed up the business end of the pliers when I asked "Um, what happened?"
"It just flew in to the toilet" she said.
Of course I had to ask what flew in to the toilet and how this involved my Channel Lock pliers.
"The springy toilet paper roll thingy" was the answer she gave me.
Ah, so that's the technical name, I thought to myself as I asked "How in the hell did that happen?"
It turns out that she was being courteous and replacing the empty roll of toilet paper and the "springy toilet paper thingy" actually has wings and used them to take a cold dip in the old Kohler dump-be-gone.
I just shook my head and left the room as she asked "That's never happened to you?"
Um, no, it hasn't. That wiley spring has never bested me and now I know to be even more cautious because she'd hold something like that over my head for a lifetime. I'll forget in a week.
For a classier take on things, check out the vast collection of photos of Minnesota at MinnPics. Something new every damn day!
When I opened the door, I found my old lady hunched over the tub holding the handle of my Channel Lock pliers in one hand and a bottle of bleach-filled shower cleaner in the other. She had just foamed up the business end of the pliers when I asked "Um, what happened?"
"It just flew in to the toilet" she said.
Of course I had to ask what flew in to the toilet and how this involved my Channel Lock pliers.
"The springy toilet paper roll thingy" was the answer she gave me.
Ah, so that's the technical name, I thought to myself as I asked "How in the hell did that happen?"
It turns out that she was being courteous and replacing the empty roll of toilet paper and the "springy toilet paper thingy" actually has wings and used them to take a cold dip in the old Kohler dump-be-gone.
I just shook my head and left the room as she asked "That's never happened to you?"
Um, no, it hasn't. That wiley spring has never bested me and now I know to be even more cautious because she'd hold something like that over my head for a lifetime. I'll forget in a week.
For a classier take on things, check out the vast collection of photos of Minnesota at MinnPics. Something new every damn day!
Monday, April 19, 2010
I'm a terrible role model
Yesterday as we made our way from my house to the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley to meet friends and try to wrangle about a dozen kids, I decided to pass the time by conversing with my three and four year old nephews. I tried to steer the conversation away from the topic of poop which isn't exactly easy. Those kids definitely love to throw out the word "poop" as often as possible. Having failed in that area and after finishing my sausage and egg biscuit, I decided instead to corrupt the little guys. After all, they don't know what I'm talking about most of the time so there's little harm in it. Right?
As for how much harm I did, I'll know in the coming months if their mom complains to me about them repeating what I said. After all, they're too young to know what a "deadbeat" is and what it means to be bald.
I did manage to get in to a heated argument with them. Each time I asked them what we were riding in, they responded with "A van" and I countered with a different object such as armadillo, garbage truck, sail boat, suitcase, giraffe and my favorite, a pocket rocket. Amazingly, I came up with responses for about ten minutes at which time I told them that it was time to sleep. Yes, I dealt with two sugared-up little boys in a confined space for about twenty minutes before telling them to go to sleep.
The Minnesota Zoo, though, proved to be a mystical place for my daughter. She growled at the bears, tired her best to oink at the pigs and made monkey sounds at the monkeys. For the price - free - she definitely got her money's worth. Even after she walked about a fifth of the overall distance on her own two feet, she still had the energy to run around outside once we got home. How a kid can do that, I have no idea but even though my feet still ache a bit today, it's all about trying to create memories for her and as she growled like a bear at me while I got her dressed this morning, I have to say that we accomplished that mission.
I even took photos of the animals - some of which may end up on MinnPics because the photos were taken in Minnesota so check out the MinnPics blog and see what you've been missing.
As for how much harm I did, I'll know in the coming months if their mom complains to me about them repeating what I said. After all, they're too young to know what a "deadbeat" is and what it means to be bald.
I did manage to get in to a heated argument with them. Each time I asked them what we were riding in, they responded with "A van" and I countered with a different object such as armadillo, garbage truck, sail boat, suitcase, giraffe and my favorite, a pocket rocket. Amazingly, I came up with responses for about ten minutes at which time I told them that it was time to sleep. Yes, I dealt with two sugared-up little boys in a confined space for about twenty minutes before telling them to go to sleep.
The Minnesota Zoo, though, proved to be a mystical place for my daughter. She growled at the bears, tired her best to oink at the pigs and made monkey sounds at the monkeys. For the price - free - she definitely got her money's worth. Even after she walked about a fifth of the overall distance on her own two feet, she still had the energy to run around outside once we got home. How a kid can do that, I have no idea but even though my feet still ache a bit today, it's all about trying to create memories for her and as she growled like a bear at me while I got her dressed this morning, I have to say that we accomplished that mission.
I even took photos of the animals - some of which may end up on MinnPics because the photos were taken in Minnesota so check out the MinnPics blog and see what you've been missing.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
How I almost earned a Darwin Award
I spent last Sunday tidying up the outside of my house. It wasn't exactly the way anyone would like to spend their Sunday afternoon but some things just need to be done. Those menial tasks involved transplanting a few perennials, pulling crap from various landscaped areas which were missed last fall and standing on my new extension ladder for nearly two hours as I scrubbed a couple years of accumulated dirt from the upper reaches of the siding of my house.
Not dead yet, I turned my attention to the front yard. There was a branch in one of my Maple trees which had beed dead since we moved in to the house five years ago. Determined to get rid of this eyesore, I grabbed my trusty ten-dollar bow saw and proceeded to saw away at the approximately 8 inch diameter branch. Standing on the next to the top step of my step ladder, this act alone should have earned mea t least consideration for a Darwin Award.
Not satisfied with my own stupidity, I took it a step further. After sawing through approximately 90 percent of the branch's girth, I, with the aide of my old lady watching from the safety of the porch, decided that some sort of makeshift pulley system would be wise. After all, I had seen actual professional tree trimmers do just that - how hard could it be?
Turns out that two tie-downs I bought a while back makes a damn good pulley system. It also turns out that there wasn't enough space in the crotch of that tree to make a relief cut so my saw wouldn't bind up and get stuck before cutting enough.
That's when my old lady yelled for me to tug on the tie-downs and just snap what was remaining of the branch and move on so she could collect my life insurance and go on to really live her life. The tugging on the tie-downs actually worked. What didn't work was the somewhat short overall length of them. Sure, they reached the ground but there wasn't enough length for me to actually lower the branch. So now with the branch snapped free from the tree, I had to hold it via the makeshift pulley system while climbing the extension ladder I had wisely repositioned earlier. It turns out that one additional arm would have been nice but in the end I lived to write this. Sure, my old lady didn't collect on my life insurance policy but spring has barely begun - there will be plenty of additional opportunities for me to off myself.
But hopefully I live to keep finding awesome photos of Minnesota for MinnPics!
Not dead yet, I turned my attention to the front yard. There was a branch in one of my Maple trees which had beed dead since we moved in to the house five years ago. Determined to get rid of this eyesore, I grabbed my trusty ten-dollar bow saw and proceeded to saw away at the approximately 8 inch diameter branch. Standing on the next to the top step of my step ladder, this act alone should have earned mea t least consideration for a Darwin Award.
Not satisfied with my own stupidity, I took it a step further. After sawing through approximately 90 percent of the branch's girth, I, with the aide of my old lady watching from the safety of the porch, decided that some sort of makeshift pulley system would be wise. After all, I had seen actual professional tree trimmers do just that - how hard could it be?
Turns out that two tie-downs I bought a while back makes a damn good pulley system. It also turns out that there wasn't enough space in the crotch of that tree to make a relief cut so my saw wouldn't bind up and get stuck before cutting enough.
That's when my old lady yelled for me to tug on the tie-downs and just snap what was remaining of the branch and move on so she could collect my life insurance and go on to really live her life. The tugging on the tie-downs actually worked. What didn't work was the somewhat short overall length of them. Sure, they reached the ground but there wasn't enough length for me to actually lower the branch. So now with the branch snapped free from the tree, I had to hold it via the makeshift pulley system while climbing the extension ladder I had wisely repositioned earlier. It turns out that one additional arm would have been nice but in the end I lived to write this. Sure, my old lady didn't collect on my life insurance policy but spring has barely begun - there will be plenty of additional opportunities for me to off myself.
But hopefully I live to keep finding awesome photos of Minnesota for MinnPics!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Do Americans watch too much TV?
It dawned on me yesterday as I turned the TV off. Alright, it REALLY dawned on me after I turned the TV off and my old lady yelled that she wanted it left on. Of course, as this usually does, it escalated in to an argument. My side was that we watch too much TV and there's no point in watching pure crap if we're not watching it for an actual purpose - channel surfing "just because".
Her argument was that "there's nothing else to do". Well, yesterday was sunny and about 70 degrees - not your typical April 11th at 5 PM in the great state of Minnesota.
It made me realize that even though I was the instigator here that we do a shitload of passive TV viewing. Whether it's a "Deadliest Catch" marathon on a Saturday morning of a string of repurposed "48 Hours" episodes on TLC late on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon (yesterday). And while I was preaching about too much TV yesterday - I, too, use it as a form of relaxation because after a hard day of my mind working to be creative and solve technical problems, the best part of the day sometimes is just shutting my mind off.
So what is there to do? Should you just ass-flop down on your sad, saggy couch and watch whatever the hell is on TV or should you ass-flop down outdoors somewhere and enjoy a beer and let nature (and the incessant barking dogs in the neighborhood) be your entertainment. I, for one, vow to let nature pick up more of the slack - especially with our abnormally early springtime weather.
Oh, and just because something is gone for a week doesn't mean it's gone for good, so before you become a naturalist, check out the quality photos of Minnesota at MinnPics!
Her argument was that "there's nothing else to do". Well, yesterday was sunny and about 70 degrees - not your typical April 11th at 5 PM in the great state of Minnesota.
It made me realize that even though I was the instigator here that we do a shitload of passive TV viewing. Whether it's a "Deadliest Catch" marathon on a Saturday morning of a string of repurposed "48 Hours" episodes on TLC late on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon (yesterday). And while I was preaching about too much TV yesterday - I, too, use it as a form of relaxation because after a hard day of my mind working to be creative and solve technical problems, the best part of the day sometimes is just shutting my mind off.
So what is there to do? Should you just ass-flop down on your sad, saggy couch and watch whatever the hell is on TV or should you ass-flop down outdoors somewhere and enjoy a beer and let nature (and the incessant barking dogs in the neighborhood) be your entertainment. I, for one, vow to let nature pick up more of the slack - especially with our abnormally early springtime weather.
Oh, and just because something is gone for a week doesn't mean it's gone for good, so before you become a naturalist, check out the quality photos of Minnesota at MinnPics!
Monday, April 5, 2010
The obsession with Tiger Woods
In literally minutes, golf legend Tiger Woods is holding a press conference. The questions remains as to whether or not he will actually answer any questions pertaining to his scandalous personal sex life and his vast collection of mistresses ranging from strippers to night club hostesses to porn stars. But Tiger Woods doesn't really need to answer these questions. He's not famous because of his once squeaky-clean private life - he's a famous man because he plays an amazing round of golf.
But Americans have practically obsessed over what has become a four month scandal because it's what the media - in all forms - has been covering. It's been on the national nightly news, it's been the subject of every nightly entertainment show, it's been the top story in all forms of sports coverage and certain cable channels have gone as far as producing hourlong specials about the affairs of Tiger Woods based on information by women of questionable repute who seem all too eager to launch themselves in to fame in any way possible.
In short, all types of media (TV, newspaper, cable news, syndicated entertainment shows, blogs and radio) have taken a relatively unimportant story and made it far more than it should have been. After all, Woods hasn't been travelling around the country speaking to groups about the virtues of being faithful to one's spouse. It would have been far more scandalous if a body double had been playing in place of Woods and winning golf tournaments while Woods claimed credit for the skills of the nameless player.
If Americans had expended one-tenth of the energy on their own lives that far too many spent obsessing or even talking about the escapades of Tiger Woods maybe the divorce rate in this country wouldn't be 50%. Maybe people would care more about their jobs if they weren't focusing so much on the happenings of others. If we gave half a shit about our own lives, the next Tiger Woods-like bombshell wouldn't matter because it doesn't directly effect us. Really, has your life been altered in one damn way because Tiger Woods has a wandering penis? Has your day-to-day routine changed at all because Tiger Woods is a whore hound?
Have I alienated half the country yet or are there still some folks left here who want to see what the latest photos are at MinnPics?
But Americans have practically obsessed over what has become a four month scandal because it's what the media - in all forms - has been covering. It's been on the national nightly news, it's been the subject of every nightly entertainment show, it's been the top story in all forms of sports coverage and certain cable channels have gone as far as producing hourlong specials about the affairs of Tiger Woods based on information by women of questionable repute who seem all too eager to launch themselves in to fame in any way possible.
In short, all types of media (TV, newspaper, cable news, syndicated entertainment shows, blogs and radio) have taken a relatively unimportant story and made it far more than it should have been. After all, Woods hasn't been travelling around the country speaking to groups about the virtues of being faithful to one's spouse. It would have been far more scandalous if a body double had been playing in place of Woods and winning golf tournaments while Woods claimed credit for the skills of the nameless player.
If Americans had expended one-tenth of the energy on their own lives that far too many spent obsessing or even talking about the escapades of Tiger Woods maybe the divorce rate in this country wouldn't be 50%. Maybe people would care more about their jobs if they weren't focusing so much on the happenings of others. If we gave half a shit about our own lives, the next Tiger Woods-like bombshell wouldn't matter because it doesn't directly effect us. Really, has your life been altered in one damn way because Tiger Woods has a wandering penis? Has your day-to-day routine changed at all because Tiger Woods is a whore hound?
Have I alienated half the country yet or are there still some folks left here who want to see what the latest photos are at MinnPics?
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